Buffalo Grove man charged in child pornography case

A Buffalo Grove man was charged this week with having child pornography, police said.

Michael Welstead, 50, of the 100 block of Raupp Boulevard, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged Thursday with two felony counts of aggravated child pornography and one felony count of child pornography, police said.

Buffalo Grove Police Commander Jim Newton said a Buffalo Grove police officer who is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force got information that Welstead had downloaded pornographic images and films of children onto his computers.

Police said that after a two-month investigation that involved sending the computers to the Chicago Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory for analysis, Welstead was arrested.

“He was interviewed a couple of months ago. We got the computers from him and we advised him they were being sent in for analysis,” said Newton. “We told him he would be facing criminal charges if anything was found and that was exactly what happened.”

Newton said Welstead is a factory worker with no previous criminal history.

If convicted of the charges, Welstead would face two to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

Police said Welstead is being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail and is next expected in court on May 23 in Rolling Meadows.